


Drabble collection 1: Bradko

by orphan_account



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Drabble Collection, Fluff, M/M, They're dorks. They're huge dorks.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: They're in love, although it's hard to admit it.





	1. "Go back to sleep."

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all, these are all prompt fills I did for friends on twitter, at various points in time. Mostly they're off a list of ways to say I love you from [ here.](http://p0ck3tf0x.tumblr.com/post/98502010026/one-hundred-ways-to-say-i-love-you) Anyway, that's why they're disjointed scenes, I'd say who prompted what if I could remember.

Brad was stirred awake sometime hours after he had fallen into a worried sleep by the sound of his bedroom door opening. He sat up groggily with a soft sound, ready to fight if he had to-   
  
“Shit, I woke you up,” came Taako’s voice, and the worry that had been knotted in his chest for the days Taako had been gone looking for a relic crumbled in an instant.    
  
“Sorry,” the elf continued, and Brad felt his soft hand running down his cheek. He leaned into it, catching it with his own. Taako’s clothes were torn and he smelled faintly of blood, and Brad started to say something, but Taako put a finger over his lips.    
  
“Shh, it’s alright, go back to sleep. I’m fine.”


	2. "I Made Reservations."

“Okay, Bradson, we’ve made it to the actual literal ground, we’re all dressed up, are you gonna tell me where we’re _going_ now, or…?” Taako trails off, looking up at him with his fists on his hips, a grin playing on his face. 

Brad smiles, avoiding his eye. “Yes, fine,” he says, starting to walk towards the entrance to the city and away from their bubble. “Listen, I know you told me it didn’t matter, but you sounded so excited, and-“

“Brad…” Taako sounds like he’s trying for warning, but there’s a thread of touched in there too. A thin elven hand slips into his. 

“That restaurant you were telling me about. I got reservations.”

“You got-Brad, their wait list is-!”

“About a month, yes,” he drawls. “I know.”

Taako bumps their shoulders together, and Brad can tell he’s delighted. “You’re an idiot,” he says.

“I love you too,” Brad replies, and Taako squeezes his hand. 


	3. A quiet moment

Brad glances at Taako, concerned; he so rarely stops himself when he tells stories, he’s too dramatic and hungry for attention for self-censorship, but there he is, leaning on the balcony railing with his eyes focused on his hands, silent where moments before he had been animated and loud. Telling a story from his youth. He’d cut himself off after saying, “oh man, Lucian said…” and seeming to realize that Brad didn’t know Lucian, that maybe neither did Taako, anymore. 

“Taako?”

He jumps, startled, as though he’d forgotten Brad was even there, then laughs sheepishly. “Sorry,” he says. “I just.. ‘s been a long century and a quarter. There are a lot of people you didn’t hear about, in the song.”

His focus shifts back to his hands, then; he traces a scar on the heel of his palm quietly, and Brad lets himself not resist the urge to wrap an arm around him. Taako leans against his chest with a sigh, and Brad says, “tell me about them?”

Taako’s tail winds around his leg as he does, affectionate and gentle and matching the soft, uncharacteristic tenderness of his tone of voice as he talks. Lucian was a gardener, he says, at the university Taako and Lup attended; he’d made friends with dryads and preferred the company of trees over people, had made amazing tea and had a husband who’d taught Taako how to dance in the styles of ancient elves and modern humans. They were just people, people Lucretia had never met, people who were lost when the world came apart. He laughs softly as he says he thinks Brad would have liked Lucian’s husband,  _ you’re both dorks who smile too much and love music _ , his ears flick and he curls closer into Brad’s side, and he’s struck by how much Taako has lost, how remarkable it is that he’s still brash and loud and passionate, slow to love but unable to resist it when it hits. He’s small and warm and older than Brad will ever be, he’s cruel and kind and brave and cowardly and a thousand contradictions twisted together into a man, and Brad thinks his heart might shatter by how much he loves him. 


	4. Time to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A braakitz one that was _not_ a prompt but instead a deliberate attempt on the lives of several friends.

Brad has been up for an hour when he finally gives up and shakes Taako awake. He’s curled in a massive nest of blankets, wrapped around Kravitz to a point where the reaper had just smiled helplessly at Brad when he’d tried to get them out of bed earlier. 

“Come on, you two, it’s time to go,” he says, jostling Taako’s shoulder and trying to stifle his laugh. Taako groans, twisting away from him and burying his face in Kravitz’ neck. 

“No, go away,” he says, muffled. Kravitz is shaking with silent giggles, but that is evidently not enough to put a dent in Taako’s sleepiness. “‘M good in here,” the elf continues, “if you’re not gonna cuddle you can fuck right off.”

“Taako, we’re going to be late,” Kravitz says, lacking any force. 

“Good. Fuck ‘em.”

“Taako, this is your own school’s graduation,” Brad adds, unable to resist laughing. Taako yanks the covers up over his head so only his hair is visible, muttering something about not caring and being comfy. Kravitz sighs. 

“One would think we would have a way to wake him up by now,” he says to Brad, eying the petulant lump of blankets on top of him. 

“We do,” Brad says. “Hang on.” He pushes Kravitz’ arms out of the way and wraps his own around Taako from above, heaving him off the bed. He yelps, wriggling, but Brad throws him over one shoulder. 

“If you’re going to act like a toddler I’m going to carry you around like one,” he says, biting his lip to tamp down his smile. Kravitz has collapsed back onto the bed, giggling helplessly. 

“I’ll make more coffee, I’m sure yours has gotten cold,” he says, rolling to his feet. “But only if you get him to shower and put on clothes.”

“Deal.”


	5. Taste of home

Brad watched Taako calmly, leaning against the table and taking in the nervous twitch to his ears, the flicking of his tail. His hands were shaking, which was unusual, particularly for when he cooked, but he wasn’t offering answers and Brad wasn’t going to ask until he had to, not least because cooking was Taako’s primary method of calming down anyway. So he sat down, instead, propped his chin on his hand. 

Watched.

Taako dropped a plate of bread and meat in front of him with his usual panache and flair, kissed his cheek, and sat in his own chair, ramrod straight, eyes focused completely on Brad. He didn’t quite understand what he’d done to earn this amount of undivided attention, but he certainly didn’t  _ mind _ , and he took a bite without thinking. For a moment, he didn’t realize, but then the taste of wildflower honey -the taste of  _ home _ \- hit his tongue and he understood what Taako must have done. 

How much work had he put into this? The bread was almost identical to the way his mother made it, although with a bit more showy flair, the flavors, ones he’d never come across away from his home, exactly the same. His breath caught in his throat and he met Taako’s eye.

Taako, who was leaning forward in his chair, his own food almost completely ignored, his ears perked towards Brad, his shoulders tense. Taako, who looked scared, like he was worried he’d done something he shouldn’t have, and not even in the fun way. 

Brad’s words couldn’t come, were stuck in his throat, some amalgamation of  _ thank you _ and  _ when did you learn this _ and a thousand different kinds of  _ I love you _ , so instead of talking he stood, his chair scraping on the floor, and swept Taako out of his, kissing him soundly. Taako squeaked as he was lifted, wrapping his arms around Brad’s neck and practically melting against his chest. Brad kissed him, tasting the honey he’d grown up snatching spoonfuls of on his lips.


	6. "Take a deep breath."

Taako’s laughing at him, certainly, and he deserves it, but after a moment he darts forward, in what seems to be perfect, smug symbiosis with the water, and helps Brad right the board. Presses an amused kiss to his salty temple and guides him to a good position. 

“Okay, one mo’gain,” he chuckles, patting Brad on the arm. “I  _ know _ you’re capable of standing up, big guy.”

Brad sighs through his nose; this is pointless. He looks like an idiot, and that’s probably  _ why _ Taako is so happy, but...the grin on his face is so uncomplicated, bright and cheerful, wet hair plastered to his head, ears perked forward and dripping seawater, and he can’t find it in himself to say no. 

“Take a deep breath, remember,” Taako says, gazing up at him like he’s somehow simultaneously the dumbest fuck in the universe and the entire universe itself, and something in Brad almost feels like, when he looks at him like that, he might be.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna post three of these; one with Brad, (this one. that's this one. a huge number of my friends are orc-loving heathens.) one without that's sfw, and one that's nsfw.


End file.
